My daughter, the next Jillian Michaels?

I am going through boot camp. My daughter Anna is putting me through it with the grit of an officer in the marines. It has nothing to do with physical fitness or preparedness, in fact i am convinced it has quite the opposite effect. It is sleep deprivation boot camp. She began as an infant with her ability to fight sleep like a ninja in the night, and now, after years of beautiful, sleep-trained naps, the gloves are off and she means business. All. the. time. She wakes me up every morning at my bedside usually between 645 and 700 with, " Mommy, please get me breakfast." If I delay in meeting her demand/request, the ugly cry will be an instantaneous result. I do set rules, like "Don't leave your room until the first number on the clock is a 7" but regardless, I feel ill-prepared for the schedule she is attempting to dictate. Not only does she wake me every morning, (no big d), BUT, she has completely stopped napping. She will lay/sit in bed for about an hour looking at books quietly during "naptime" (which she still calls it btw.) But her ninja reflexes and super human senses detect anything and everything I may or may not be doing during nap time. Let's face it, sometimes moms need a nap too. So, what am I to do with this new stage, but figure out how to survive? I don't know too many other moms with this problem, but I am going to need to start going to bed a lot earlier to just beat her to the punch in the mornings. Such is life:) But I am still beyond blessed to be living mine.

Somebody better save me from myself

I am a very, very clumsy person. If you know me, you know that this is not self-deprecation, but truth. I say this now, because I sprained my ankle this weekend for the billionth time, and my first reaction was to laugh, then my second, to get angry at the inconvenience I knew would ensue. I am beginning to think that objects jump into my path. This time, it was a black walnut, and I didn't just trip over it, I laid my body out across a gravel path, scraping up my hands and forearm. Jenn had to pull acorns and sticks off my back and out of my hair. Go big or go home I say! A couple of months ago it was a steak knife, an avocado pit and a new hole in between my fingers. Also, not very painful, just very inconvenient. In high school, I remember slipping on a banana peel, for real. Those things can just run away with your feet, i promise. I also was playing catch or frisbee or something after school one day and decided to tackle some trash cans I didn't see because MY EYE WAS ON THE BALL! So, what's a girl to do? If you have any clues or tips, please for the love of all that is sacred and holy, share them. I would love to live to see my 31st birthday.:)

Surviving the plague and the seesaw shark

Well, i am beginning to get stir crazy and thought this blog post was Way overdue! Just getting over strep throat, which may as well have been the black death. i have never chilled and fevered and ached more in my life. I must say my husband was Superman, or SuperMom when i needed him. He stayed home to take care of the kids while I was quarantined to our room. What a stud:) Also, thanks to all my beautiful friends who sent me facebook get well wishes! Love it!

Anyway, on this side of that dark tunnel, I thought I would share some pics we took on our trip to the Georgia Aquarium! This was my first time getting to see Justin's finished work in person and it was a total blast. First, it was the middle of the week, so right there, a 2 day vacay midweek? A-Mazing! this is the fam at the airport around 620am:) They did pretty well on no sleep.

I stink at this posting pictures thing, so i will narrate now:) The second pic is the entrance to the aquarium. It looks like a video screen, but it is actually fish swimming through a rapid current aimed in the direction you are supposed to walk:) Clever huh? Justin didn't do that. Someone else at PGAV did, but still cool. Third pic is the lobby area which houses all of the entrances to the other exhibits.

The exhibits were so modern and accessible to kids. I loved the jellyfish! Sawyer learned to say "FISH!" and do fish lips! He would run through a crowd of people to get to the front of the tank for the best spot in the house.

This is all the Pacific Coral reef. Sawyer's favorite! Then, in some other exhibits, there were tunnels for kids to crawl through. I will show Justin's new exhibits next. These two pics are of the Sea otter expansion. This is a sea otter named Gracie who was a total ham:) The kids loved it! Notice the glass on the other side, where you can get a close up view:)

Next: my favorite animal. Penguins!!!!! The expansion of the Penguin exhibit included a tunnel crawl with a pop up dome where you can view the penguins, inside the enclosure:)

Great job babe:) So cool:)

Lastly we saw a massive tank that was Anna's favorite. It started with a walk through a tunnel of water, and ended with literally one of the biggest tanks in the world. I could not get a picture of the whole thing, it was that big. The third picture shows how thick the glass for the tank actually is.

Anna loved the hammerheads and ended up bringing home an (ugly) stuffed animal of one:0) She also loved(and feared)the seesaw sharks ( sawfish) and whale sharks. She said at one point, while cringing, "I don't want it to get me!" If only she could see the video of her Aunt Meg and Uncle Josh in shark cages off of South Africa. My favorite animal of the day, besides penguins, would have to have been the whale sharks. They are really pretty in that they have these spots that look like water glimmering in sunlight. This trip was really a vacation, even though it was only like 30 hours, because Justin and I got to be "in" the ocean, our favorite place, with the kids.

Who can't be relaxed looking at this all day?

Or this? :)

I love my family.

Project update!!!

So, I told you I would keep you posted as the info about my husband's last year of work became available. Here are some links! http://www.buschgardens2011.com/ Clip 1 code is: CHASE. You can also view the teaser videos at the bottom of the page. So fun!!!

We are going to be visiting the Georgia Aquarium next week and it will be the first time I will see a finished project that my husband worked on! Watch for some fun pics of the penguins and our little ones!!

while pitting cherries...

Wow, pitting cherries looks like major surgery! I found a tip online to use a large paper clip and fish the pits out and i felt like i was removing organs and the red juice was staining my hands... Anyway, it took me a good 30 minutes to do a pound, and I got to thinking about something that happened today.

My daughter, Anna turned 3 in June and this has gotten Justin and me thinking about preschool. I had received a plethora of opinions on the topic and felt like I really needed to do my own research to see where I really stand.

I went today to a fairly new, but pretty affluent preschool nearby, where a friend of mine teaches, to get some information and they ended up taking Anna, Sawyer and I on a tour. This place was awesome! Each room had a theme based on a children's book and the lesson plans were posted on the door. These plans were described by the head of this school as being, "highly structured and highly academic." Two things we are looking for!

All this being said, the place was awesome, but probably out of our price range. The part of the day that really got me thinking, was when we were in the 4 year old room, with the kids while they were doing Learning centers. I can only assume that I was totally and completely beaming. The tour guide said, "Wow, it looks like you miss it." It, being teaching. I thought about this, and even though I miss teaching, it wasn't teaching that made me beam. It was school. At the risk of sounding like a total geek, I still must say it. School is Awesome! I love it and always have! The sense of community in a classroom, the excitement of learning and trying new things, the change of a new teacher every year, then every class period, the relationships, the playing, the opportunities to try, succeed at and even fail at, new things! I cannot wait for my little ones to experience it! I will be right beside them all the way to try and make sure they have a positive experience, and that they also learn from the tough days too.

I truly believe someday I will return to teaching, and probably teaching Spanish:) one of my passions, but for awhile, I will be content experiencing school through the eyes of my kids:)

I get by with a little help from my friends:)

One thing I love about the Midwest is people here are genuinely kind. Not just polite for appearances, but they have a genuine care for your well-being. I have heard this is especially true here in St. Louis.

In my case, I have an amazing group of girls who I have grown close to at my church, Matthias' Lot. I have found that as a mom and a wife, it is very difficult to maintain friendships if you are not at the same stage of life, or if your friends can't come to you. (IE: they are single, or without kids). Because of this difficulty, many people appreciate the closeness of family at this stage of life, due to their ability to be around with a moment's notice. Instead, we gather for bible study, play dates, and the occasional GNO (Girls' night out.) During these times, I am so encouraged by these women! They build me up, don't talk bad about their husbands, and offer to take the kids when i need a break. They support me and build my confidence as a wife and mom. They help me stay sane while my husband is working insane hours, and they listen to my struggles. These women are my family here.

My husband is very busy, but when he is home he is always saying, "You should go do something. Call someone and go see a movie or something!" The only problem with this is that, like me, my friends are also moms and can't just drop everything with a moment's notice to "hang out." My best friend and I each have a 3 year old girl and a 1 year old boy. This has been an amazing blessing in that our entire family can benefit from hanging out together. We have a great time together! We understand each other. She recently had her third baby, a boy:) He is completely adorable and snuggly and sweet, and gives me baby fever all over again! She got home from the hospital while I was out of town, so upon returning home, i was hit with the realization that a lot is changing. She is going to need help! 3 kids under 3! I already missed her! I knew that our times together were already mostly stolen away time on the phone during nap times and now I didn't even know a good time to call, or if she would have time to talk. Then, the sadness set in.

This is the girl who taught me how to be a true friend. She supports me when my family does not. She loves me and looks out for my well-being and doesn't judge me. I only hope I can bless her as much as she has blessed me. I know that her busyness isn't the end of our friendship. She has the uncanny ability to "do it all" and still know when her friends are in need. She is a sister to me and I thank God for her. So, now our times together will be play dates while wrestling our little ones and kissing boo-boos. Not too bad:) These are the days.

a walk in his shoes

My husband is preparing for his licensing exam( the ARE) and in the process of preparing, he must log his hours to prove he has experience in different areas of "the biz." He sent me an email today with his stats:

For 317 weeks I have logged: 15,104 hrs 2,424 of those are OT That averages to 47.65 hrs per week or equal to working at a rate of 119.12%. My shortest week has been 40 hrs; my longest week has been 126 hrs. My OT is equivillent to working 1.17 EXTRA years.

He then said, "I don't know if that makes me proud, or sick..." I said, hmmm... i won't answer that one. Just glad he is home right now:)

transitioning

I am overwhelmed. You would think I would be happy, which I am, that my husband is home and will be home for the next 4 days:) , but seeing as though I have cooked about 5 meals in the last 2 months, and now must grocery shop, budget, plan and create meals and order for and clean up after 2 toddlers and a husband, I am feeling a little inadequate. Lord, beer me strength...

daily dance party

We have two kids, Anna who is 3, and Sawyer who is close to 15 months. When the weather is scorching in the 100's and we can't run our energy out outside, we have air-conditioned daily dance parties! Great stress reliever and a great way to make the time go by when Justin is working late (hence the daily part). Sawyer's favorite song right now is "Hey Soul Sister" by Train. Funny how his skills strongly resemble his dad's! :) Anna's current favorite is "Love Story" by Taylor Swift...aka the princess song. AND, for mom's stress relief, we include such favorites as "Empire state of mind", "Carry out" and "4 minutes." I love how kids don't judge your dance skills! We just let loose and shake our booties:) In this picture i think they are trying to do the "Thriller" dance?

tongue in cheek

Oh, how my husband would love the use of all lowercase letters! I am the architect's wife. I say this tongue in cheek because his job is his mistress. His professional life can be glamorous, exciting and unpredictable, and because I am a stay at home mom of two, mine is more unpredictable, less glamorous.... but always exciting:) As my husband is about to complete the final package for his project this week, we are on the end of a VERY BUSY season in our lives. I will update you more on his projects as they become "public" since they are pretty exciting, and also fill you in on what my daily life is like as a wife, mom, ex-teacher, trying to figure it all out!

This photo is titled, "The Wife of the Architect" by Alfred Stieglitz. I wonder how many billable hours her husband has put in this week.